Altrincham returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over 10-man Aldershot Town at the J. Davidson Stadium, as substitute Aidan Barlow converted a late penalty before debutant Leo Farrell scored in stoppage time.
Neil Gibson handed goalkeeper Harry Isted his Altrincham debut, and the hosts created the first clear opening after nine minutes when Matty Kosylo picked out Tom Crawford in space. The captain advanced towards goal and struck a rising effort that Nick Hayes saved. Charlie Kirk then cut inside from the left and curled a shot narrowly wide.
The breakthrough arrived in the 28th minute through Lewis Banks. The defender advanced into the penalty area, exchanged passes with Jimmy Knowles and finished low beyond Hayes for his first goal of the season.
Aldershot threatened before the interval, with Isted producing a diving save to deny Hakeem Sandah in the 42nd minute. Knowles shot over at the other end before the visitors thought they had equalised when Anisius Lewis turned in Basil Tuma’s low cross, only for the assistant referee to rule the effort out for offside.
The Shots needed barely 20 seconds of the second half to draw level. Hayes launched the ball forward from the restart and Marcus Wyllie helped create the opening for Tuma, who finished from close range to make it 1-1.
Aldershot had an opportunity to take the lead in the 62nd minute when Conor Lawless found himself in a promising position inside the area, but his shot cleared the crossbar. Altrincham had introduced Farrell for Kahrel Reddin earlier in the half, while Marcus Dinanga and Tristan Abrahams came on for the visitors as both sides searched for a second goal.
The decisive incident arrived in the 80th minute after Barlow, who had replaced Kirk shortly beforehand, combined with Knowles inside the Aldershot penalty area. Knowles returned the ball with a clever flick, releasing Barlow towards goal, but Dominic Odusanya held him back. Referee Martin Woods awarded a penalty and showed the Aldershot midfielder a straight red card.
After a delay while the decision was dealt with, Barlow stepped up in the 82nd minute and sent Hayes the wrong way to restore Altrincham’s lead. It was a decisive contribution from the substitute, whose introduction had come just minutes before the penalty incident.
Farrell completed the scoring three minutes into stoppage time. Otis Khan beat his defender on the left and delivered a low cross into the six-yard box, where the on-loan Barnsley forward finished from close range to mark his Altrincham debut with a goal.
The victory was Altrincham’s eighth in their last 10 National League matches and provided an immediate response to the previous weekend’s defeat at leaders Boreham Wood. Gibson’s side ended Saturday sixth with 24 points from 13 games, while Aldershot dropped to 12th on 18 points after suffering a second successive league defeat.
